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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 2088.PDF
- • 3 a 7^^M MW^I^^H . Jjfjp :.,'•«;,:. - ^^fl ; • ^^^Eff _^w*~-^ .„•;,..- itafe to^^^*** 103 Above a Meteor 8 is seen landing at Duxford, and on the left, at the same station are (left to right) G\C. J. Rankin (station commander), G/C. J. M. Thompson (S.A.S.O., No. 11 Group), and A.V-M. H. L. Patch, the Group's A.O.C. Between th&Atu&gt;-$fmifr&ipz, tains is discernible S/L H. Bennett, who commands a Duxford-bated Meteor squadrons* enough for the ascent to Flying Control, where S/L. Beck—very Evide awake, as is proper to his calling—turned up The Books and reported: Yesterday very slack (weather, of course); eleven sorties Jn all, but several diversions from other bases (Meteors and Sabres). Thirty-two sorties today (eight sections of four), Scrambled against raids coming in from points between the Paris area and the Dutch islands. The squadron leader gave us a dummy run over his pet move ments board, which is of local design and manufacture and* dis- Iplays graphically everything a well-informed flying controller should know. But admirable and ingenious as it is, it set us vondering if something a little more recherche—such as 'the illu- ninated display in Hawker's Dunsfold (or should it be Blackpool?) [tower—might not be more appropriate to a first-rate fighter station. From this distraction we were shaken by a broadcast concerning [three bandits coming in at 32,000ft; and across the airfield we saw [ two sections of camouflaged Meteor 8s depart to deal with them. Presently we had the good luck to meet not Only the station [commander, G/C. Rankin, but G/C. Thompson—S.A.S.O., I No. 11 Group—and later (as he arrived by Ansbn) A.V-M. Patch, the A.O.C. himself. None of these gallant officers betrayed the least despondency, though trade was bad and the air marshal had just been obliged to deposit his Meteor at Waterbeach witii a ! defective hood-seal. In the course of a chat with S/L. Beniett, officer commanding j a top-notch, Duxford-based Meteor sguadron, we heard about a sortie flown that morning. As leader/bf four Mk 8s he had been i told to make 36,000ft to oppose a target coming in from the Dutch : islands. This materialized as four Sabres, and a smart turn and a tail chase ensued. The Meteors closed "on the Mach," got in a couple of "dead-duck line shots" ajSiece, and claimed the lot. Duxford's own two-seaters being unavailable, our desire to experience a similarly satisfactory encounter was translated into the arrival of a Meteor 7 from/a famous Auxiliary squadron; for which, our thanks to those who interceded—and complied. F/O. Hodgson, the pilot,„Was briefed to fly as No. 2 to F/L. Spiers, leader of a section of four. Observing that the borrowed Meteor's ailerons were innocent of such fripperies as spring tabs, he deplored that power-as'sisted arms did not run in his family. For some urgent reason,«ff which we were not immediately aware, the tempo of our strapjMng-in was sharply stepped up from the polite to the unceremonious; then suddenly, half-dazed with hitch- ings, strappings, tighjenings and slammings, we found ourselves hurtling down die rujiway and being swept aloft on a battle-climb to 30,000ft. Through dark, dense cloud the stubby silver wing on our left nestled close in tq the leader's olive-green Mk 8. We thrust up through the vapojrous gloom, and at last burst into sun-flooded up'ands of cloudj with glaring blue over all. The Meteor f is still, to our own mind, the most exhilarating passenger-carrying vehicle extant; but it lacks pressurization and its heating arrangements are, to say the least, inequable. So while at the back the writer was comfortable enough, F/O. Hodgson (as he later told us) was "crocked" with cold, and was glad to level out at 28,0(J0ft. His wrist-watch was frozen over. We had been vectored on to a raid from the north, but this turned away just as we made our height, and our despondency was only assuaged by a battle scene, suddenly projected on to our ueld of view ahead. We saw glinting Meteors tearing in to a lunch of flashing Sabres and felt the urgent acceleration of our own machine to join in. But our speed being low at the top of a : 'lmt>f we could not increase it sufficiently, and we "threw away" the chase to patrol north of Dunkirk. The greatest height we noticed on the altimeter was 31,000ft and -^highest Mach reading 0.69-0.7—at which figure our Meteor which had seen better days) broke into a spirited weave in waltz- ™e- This proved highly diverting to our irreverent comrades, nd could only be arrested by applying the dive brakes. Though our section later had a call to deal with a raid building ip some 80 miles south, and was told to make all height possible, our own fuel state, and F/O. Hodgson's understandable lack of enthusiasm for yet higher levels, determined him to break off the proceedings. We headed.J*6me over London at 26,000ft. Our capricious Waltzing Marffda was only persuaded to sit down on the runway by a final application of dive brakes. H. F. K. From the "Enemy" Camp COTTESMORE is a good example of the large andj-active light bomber station and the wing of Canberras atntesent based there are having a busy time during "Dividend." "Hie squadrons involved expect to fly some 300 sorties during the jteriod, and on some days crews will fly more than one sortie eacri. Except that some aspects of briefing have been,*treamlined and quite a lot of the basic information can be issuedjin printed form, the preparations for a trip are as previously: jlie intention, the route, the load, the conditions, the other activities, friendly and hostile, which may have a bearing on the sortie. Then there are the weather, contrail heights, the method of Etturn, let-down and landing, security warnings and time checks/ The navigators, in fact, receive their special information first a^d are then joined by the pilot and bombardier for the general ^briefing. The task of giving the main briefings is shared between^the Wingco Flying and the squadron commanders. The Canberras have been making some long sorties covering large areas of Europe and the North Sea before coming in to attack targets in the British Isles. ^Simulated visual or GeeH bombing is usually ordered, but sonje live drops on Sandbanks and other ranges have been authoriz<fB. Canberra crews are liking this $ercise better than previous ones because they are being allofred to fly at full operational cruising speed instead of around /ylach 0.7 or so as before. They are also being briefed to fly higher on the whole, and there is a chance of genuine interception y^hich adds to the interest. Two Canberra crews actually spoke at de-briefing of having been over hauled from directly behind by two Swifts (with plenty of speed margin and manoeuvring powfr). A total of four Swifts were re ported seen in pairs by one cgew. The height was around 40,000ft; their speed, it was said, must have been better than Mach 0.8, and the position was some-thirty miles out over the North Sea as the Canberras came im In fact, there were no Swifts flying at this time—next week-eftd, perhaps—but at these heights recog nition is difficult and th^; aircraft may have been one of the other swept-wing types operating in the area—Sabres or Hunters. This sort of interception is the best thing that has been men tioned by any Canberra crew since the type started to take part in exercises, and, incidentally, it emphasizes the real need that now exists for a tai^-warning device. At the moment the crews have no rearward yision. Crews may be called on to demon strate the high-altjjtude manoeuvrability of the Canberra, evasive action having for jpe first time been authorized on daylight sorties. At the time of our visit Cottesmore had been shot-up only once, and it is iuspected that the Sabres concerned were from nearby North JLuffenham. On another occasion Sabres were scrambled to Jhase the Canberras, but it seems they failed to catch them. |tieteors on a standing patrol in the middle twenty- thousands ji|mped one Canberra while it climbed away from base. Anorfier Canberra crew was somewhat surprised to be contacted bjr a lone Dutch Meteor "miles from anywhere at about 38,000 feetf' A lone Vampire was also sighted. During'the week the squadrons had a re-arming exercise for which thf aim was a very rapid turn-round. As soon as machines landed they were pounced on, refuelled, bombed-up and taken- off agahji in the shortest possible time. Some short-notice surprise operations were also expected at any time. As the exercise proceeds it is probable that intruder activities, jamming, interference with Gee and all the other war-time harassments will be introduced. This will all add to the realism and value of the exercise. It would be a pity if the rerrark of one crew, just returned from a long sortie, applied on too many occasions. They said: "Nothing happened, and the first aircraft we saw after take-off was the one landing ahead of us on the runway," M- A. S,
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